WELCOME — ABOUT US
Death is hard to think about, and it’s hard to talk about. Death with Dignity–Albany was founded in 2015 to make it easier for people to talk about end-of-life issues, to learn more about their options, and to make plans to ensure that their wishes are honored when the time comes. We believe that everyone deserves to have a dignified, peaceful death.
We are an independent, local, grassroots group whose mission is to provide a forum for education and advocacy. We are based in Albany, NY and serve the Capital Region of New York State and beyond.
In past years, we held in-person meetings to hear from guest speakers with expertise in legal, ethical, social, and legislative aspects of end-of-life matters. These meetings allowed supporters of death with dignity to meet and talk with other supporters and advocates. Beginning in 2020, our meetings have shifted mostly to an online format.
We are part of the New York Alliance for Medical Aid in Dying, whose members are working to enact medical aid in dying legislation in this state.
Advocacy at the Capitol
Activities involving volunteer advocates will resume in the Capitol in January. Here are the major events currently scheduled:
Wednesday, January 8. This is the Opening Day of the legislative session for 2025. Advocates will be greeting new and returning legislators, and we will be passing out information to their offices.
Tuesday, January 14. This is the 2025 Campaign Kickoff & Lobby Day, with advocates coming from around the state. As part of the fun, we will be marching from the Legislative Office Building to The Egg, in conjunction with the Governor’s State of the State presentation.
Tuesday, January 28. A public forum, “Freedom + Bodily Autonomy at Life’s End: A Discussion About Medical Aid in Dying” is being organized by City & State (news service) and Compassion & Choices, at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center, 9:30–11:30 AM, to be followed by general lobbying.
Registration information for all these events is given on our Advocacy webpage.
A Bill in the U.K.
On November 29, the British House of Commons approved an end-of-life bill for England and Wales. The bill still needs to pass through committees and other steps to achieve final approval.
Especially interesting is how the assistance is to be provided under the law. Rather than being based on medication only, there will be a list of “approved substances” that may be used. The list, which is to be specified by government regulations, may include “drugs and other substances”.
The law requires a doctor to be present during the assisted death. The doctor may “prepare a medical device which will enable that person to self-administer the substance” and may “assist that person to ingest or otherwise self-administer the substance”.
The law is clear that ingestion is not the only possible method of self-administering the substance. Thus, intravenous self-administration of a lethal drug (which is an established practice in Switzerland) seems to be well within the vision of the law. Other methods that exist or may be developed may also be available. Why not the same for New York?